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Tennessee PoliticsMon, 07 Apr 2014 14:51:50 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=3.6Phillip North accuses Steve Dickerson of violating “gentleman’s agreement” with attackshttp://blogs.tennessean.com/politics/2012/phillip-north-accuses-steve-dickerson-of-violating-gentlemans-agreement-with-attacks/
http://blogs.tennessean.com/politics/2012/phillip-north-accuses-steve-dickerson-of-violating-gentlemans-agreement-with-attacks/#commentsThu, 25 Oct 2012 22:00:59 +0000Michael Casshttp://blogs.tennessean.com/politics/?p=18322Phillip North, the Democratic nominee for the Senate District 20 seat, says Republican rival Steve Dickerson has been running a “false negative campaign” against him, contrary to the “gentleman’s agreement” (was there just one gentleman?) that North says they had early on.

“Effective today, we are going to hold the Steve Dickerson campaign accountable for the false negative campaign and for allowing his campaign to be hijacked by Tea Party extremists who are attempting to gain a foothold in Davidson County,” North says in a five-page, footnoted statement called “The Truth About Phillip North and
A Challenge for Steve Dickerson.”

North also challenges Dickerson to a debate “at the public time and place of his choosing” and suggests that a Tennessean reporter or editor or a local TV journalist could moderate it.

Meanwhile, the Senate Republican Caucus, whose treasurer is Sen. Mae Beavers, has paid for an anti-North ad focusing on the firing of a former campaign aide for doing political work while also working at the General Assembly.

]]>http://blogs.tennessean.com/politics/2012/phillip-north-accuses-steve-dickerson-of-violating-gentlemans-agreement-with-attacks/feed/0Legislative aide may have campaigned for Phillip North during work hourshttp://blogs.tennessean.com/politics/2012/legislative-aide-may-have-campaigned-for-phillip-north-during-work-hours/
http://blogs.tennessean.com/politics/2012/legislative-aide-may-have-campaigned-for-phillip-north-during-work-hours/#commentsMon, 15 Oct 2012 22:40:54 +0000Chas Siskhttp://blogs.tennessean.com/politics/?p=18203A staffer to a Tennessee state senator appears to have conducted political activity while working at the legislature, the TNReport website said Monday.

Derek Hummel, an aide to state Sen. Ophelia Ford, D-Memphis, made telephone calls and posted to Facebook about Nashville attorney Phillip North during hours when he was paid for working at the state Capitol. State law bars legislative staffers from engaging in political activity during work hours.

Kimberly Fritts, North’s campaign manager, said Hummel was contracted to work only on weekends and during the evening, and he had not worked for the campaign since Oct. 1.

Adam Nickas, executive director of the Tennessee Republican Party, urged North to return Hummel’s public salary.

“Phillip North has set a new low for public corruption. Without ever serving a day in the legislature, Phillip North has managed to violate our system’s most basic legal and ethical boundaries. It is disgraceful that North would allow a state employee to work on his campaign full-time while drawing a check for full-time work from the taxpayers of Tennessee. North has broken trust with the citizens of Nashville by having taxpayers subsidize his campaign effort. He should immediately return to taxpayers the money his field director took while he was explicitly doing political work on state-owned equipment on state time.”

North is running against Nashville doctor Steve Dickerson for the open 20th Senate District seat.

Matt Anderson, a spokesman for the Senate Democratic Caucus, said they did not believe Hummel worked for North during work hours.

“We do not condone any political activity by Senate staff on state time, and we expect all of our staff members to follow state policy. While we knew this particular staff member was affiliated with the North campaign, it was our understanding that this work took place outside of state time.”

]]>http://blogs.tennessean.com/politics/2012/week-ahead-in-politics-oct-15/feed/0Phillip North promises “straight talk” and bipartisanship in first adhttp://blogs.tennessean.com/politics/2012/phillip-north-promises-straight-talk-and-bipartisanship-in-first-ad/
http://blogs.tennessean.com/politics/2012/phillip-north-promises-straight-talk-and-bipartisanship-in-first-ad/#commentsFri, 12 Oct 2012 20:12:30 +0000Chas Siskhttp://blogs.tennessean.com/politics/?p=18184Phillip North, the Democratic candidate for the 20th Senate District, posted his first television ad today as well.

North, who faces GOP nominee Steve Dickerson on Nov. 6, promised “straight talk” and an end to “partisan bickering” if elected.

]]>http://blogs.tennessean.com/politics/2012/phillip-north-promises-straight-talk-and-bipartisanship-in-first-ad/feed/0Steve Dickerson releases first TV adhttp://blogs.tennessean.com/politics/2012/steve-dickerson-releases-first-tv-ad/
http://blogs.tennessean.com/politics/2012/steve-dickerson-releases-first-tv-ad/#commentsFri, 12 Oct 2012 15:21:55 +0000Chas Siskhttp://blogs.tennessean.com/politics/?p=18186Steve Dickerson, the Republican nominee for the state’s 20th Senate District, has released his first television ad. The spot shows the candidate in split screen to describe him as both a doctor and a small businessman.

Dickerson faces Democratic nominee Phillip North in what is likely to be one of the state’s tightest legislative races.

]]>http://blogs.tennessean.com/politics/2012/steve-dickerson-releases-first-tv-ad/feed/0Republicans claims two-to-one money lead in state Senate raceshttp://blogs.tennessean.com/politics/2012/republicans-claims-two-to-one-money-lead-in-state-senate-races/
http://blogs.tennessean.com/politics/2012/republicans-claims-two-to-one-money-lead-in-state-senate-races/#commentsThu, 11 Oct 2012 21:20:51 +0000Chas Siskhttp://blogs.tennessean.com/politics/?p=18180Republicans are touting a more than two-to-one fundraising lead over their Democratic opponents in the nine contested state Senate races. They also have more than twice as much cash on hand than their Democratic opponents, according to the latest filings.

Republicans raised $926,130 from late July to the end of September, according to reports filed Wednesday with the Tennessee Registry of Election Finance. Democrats brought in $373,126 in the same span.

Republican Senate candidates entered the homestretch with $1,261,982 left in the bank. Democrats had $574,880.

“The financial lead our candidates have achieved shows that the Republican message of smaller government, lower taxes, and more jobs is drawing support from across the political spectrum,” Senate Republican Caucus executive director Jordan Young said in a statement touting their numbers.

“I deeply regret the decision of the Commissioner of Education to withhold $3.4 million dollars from the Metro Nashville public school children. This is not the way to further the cause of improving our public schools. I urge Governor Haslam to overrule this oppressive action by the Commissioner,” stated North.

]]>http://blogs.tennessean.com/politics/2012/phillip-north-condemns-fine-of-metros-great-hearts-rejection/feed/0Steve Dickerson endorses fine for Metro’s Great Hearts decisionhttp://blogs.tennessean.com/politics/2012/steve-dickerson-endorses-metro-fine-for-great-hearts-decision/
http://blogs.tennessean.com/politics/2012/steve-dickerson-endorses-metro-fine-for-great-hearts-decision/#commentsTue, 18 Sep 2012 15:07:29 +0000Chas Siskhttp://blogs.tennessean.com/politics/?p=18013State Senate candidate Steve Dickerson said he supports the Haslam administration’s decision to withhold $3.4 million from Metro Nashville Public Schools after the school board rejected Great Hearts Academies’ application to open a charter school in West Nashville.

“Later today, Education Commissioner Kevin Huffman and Governor Bill Haslam are expected to announced that the State will withhold the BEP funding to the MNPS; while this is an unfortunate situation, it is a necessary consequence for a district that has violated state law.”

Dickerson, a Republican, is running for the 20th Senate District, which stretches from Hermitage to Crieve Hall, taking in much of West Nashville. He faces Democratic nominee Phillip North, who has not yet issued a statement on the decision.

]]>http://blogs.tennessean.com/politics/2012/steve-dickerson-endorses-metro-fine-for-great-hearts-decision/feed/0NFIB endorses two Nashville Republicanshttp://blogs.tennessean.com/politics/2012/nfib-endorses-two-nashville-republicans/
http://blogs.tennessean.com/politics/2012/nfib-endorses-two-nashville-republicans/#commentsThu, 06 Sep 2012 15:47:43 +0000Chas Siskhttp://blogs.tennessean.com/politics/?p=17960The National Federation of Independent Business has endorsed Green Hills physician Steve Dickerson and Metro Councilman Robert Duvall, their campaigns announced this morning. Both are Republicans.

Dickerson is running against Phillip North, a Madison attorney and Democrat, to represent the state legislature’s 20th Senate district, which arcs around northern, western and southern Davidson County from Hermitage to Crieve Hall.

Duvall faces Democratic state Rep. Sherry Jones in the 59th House, which consists mainly of Antioch.

Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey also announced Thursday that he has been endorsed by the NFIB. Ramsey is unopposed in November.

]]>http://blogs.tennessean.com/politics/2012/nfib-endorses-two-nashville-republicans/feed/0Senate District 20 sees big moneyhttp://blogs.tennessean.com/politics/2012/senate-district-20-sees-big-money/
http://blogs.tennessean.com/politics/2012/senate-district-20-sees-big-money/#commentsThu, 12 Jul 2012 15:51:10 +0000Chas Siskhttp://blogs.tennessean.com/politics/?p=17529The money is flowing in the 20th Senate District, with Steve Dickerson and Phillip North both bringing in more than $100,000 in the second quarter.

Dickerson, who is locked in a three-way race for the Republican nomination, raised $100,040 between April 1 and June 30, supplementing the $106,964 that he brought in in the first quarter. Dickerson has also lent his campaign $100,000.

North, meanwhile, brought in $100,885 in the second quarter. North likewise has lent his campaign $100,000.

The two far outpaced Republican Rob Mortensen, who raised $31,040; Democrat James Baxter, who donated $767 to his campaign; and Republican David Hall, who raised $150. Hall also lent his campaign $6,976 and borrowed $1,040 from his son’s campaign, which he subsequently repaid.

The heated Republican primary has eaten into Dickerson’s finance, as he spent $126,237 in the second quarter. That amount was more than five times the $23,933 spent by North and nearly eight times the $16,047 spent by Mortensen.

But Dickerson still had quite a bit left in the tanks as of June 30, $158,310. North had $176,951 and Mortensen $16,593.